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ESSAYS 



THE SOILING OF CATTLE, 



ILLUSTRATED FROM EXPERIENCE; 



AN ADDRESS, 



CONTAINING SUGGESTIONS WHICH MAY BE USEFUL TO FARMERS. 



By JOSIAII QUINCY 



THIKD EDITION. 



BOSTON: 
A. K. L O R I N O. 

I 8 C, 2. 







BOSTON: 

riilXTED BY JOlrX WILSON AND SON, 

22, School Street. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



The first of these Essays and the " Address " were prepared, in 
1819, at the request of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural Society. The second Essay was prepared, in 1852, at the 
request of the Trustees of the Norfolk Agricultural Society. They 
are now republished at the solicitation of friends of agriculture, 
and of the system therein recommended. 

In former days in Massachusetts, when there was much land 
and few inhabitants, the possession of fifty or a hundred acres was 
thought requisite for the success of a farmer ; and the possession of 
ten, fifteen, or twenty acres was scarcely deemed a title to that 
appellation. Time is rapidly changing these views ; for land begins 
to be dear, and cultivators many. If Massachusetts means to retain 
her population at home, and preserve somewhat of the proportion 
of weight she yet possesses in our Union, she must study, act upon, 
and encourage the productive power of land, and inculcate on her 
agricultural class that the true interest, both of the State and indi- 
viduals, is best promoted by cultivating small tracts of land to the 
utmost productive power of the soil. By a mistaken notion, that a 
considerable extent of land is requisite to enable a farmer to keep 
many head of cattle, a most wasteful proportion of it is retained for 
the sole purpose of pasturage ; and thus, compared with its inherent 
productive power, made useless. If only the interest of the market 



value of such comparatively useless tracts was applied to the cost 
of labor for highly cultivating small portions of land, and that which 
is now kept for pasture permitted only to grow up for wood, the 
profit to the State and individual Avould be in an important degree 
increased. 

The aim of the ensuing treatises is to illustrate from experience 
the means and the mode, under the climate of Massachusetts, of 
accomplishing this result. 

JOSIAH QUINCY. 

Boston, March 1, 1859. 



ESSAY I.* 



The practice of " soiling cattle," as it is called, or keeping 
them, all the year round, in their stables, with only a daily 
and short liberty of a yard, having been a frequent siilycct 
of the attention, and an object of a proffered premium, by 
the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for pro- 
moting Agriculture, I shall, in conformity with their request, 
communicate my own practice and experience on that mode 
of managing stock. 

Previously, however, to stating any observations upon 
the results of my own experience, I think it may be useful 
to abstract and digest into a regular form some of the prin- 
cipal facts and reasonings of Transatlantic farmers. These 
may tend to attract the attention of our practical husband- 
men more forcibly to the subject ; and enable those, whose 
farms and capital are in a condition that authorizes the 
adopting of this mode, to do it with more facility and 
success. 

There are six distinct advantages which those who advo- 
cate soiling propose to themselves by the practice, and on 

* Published in the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal, July, 1820, pj). 113- 
125 ; continued, pp. 334-348. 



which they establish the preference of this mode to the 
common one of pasturing cattle' during the summer. 

1st. The saving of land. 

2d. The saving of fencing. 

3d. The economizhig of food. 

4th. The better condition and greater comfort of the 

cattle. 
.5tli. The greater product of milk. 
Gth. The attainment of manure. 

The only offset to all these advantages is the labor of 
raising and cutting the food, and feeding and taking care 
of the stock. 

1st. The saving- of land. Li relation to this fact, there 
can be no question. All European writers assert it. They 
differ only as to the degree of saving which results. Some 
assert that it is as one to three ; others, one to seven. 
Others assert the saving to be yet greater ; that is, one 
acre kej^t for soiling ivill go as far as three or seven kept 
for pasture, in the support of stocks. It is not important 
to analyze this point farther. For every practical purpose, 
the evidence is sufficient to satisfy every mind that a very 
great saving of land results from this practice ; and that on 
farms, where the whole soil is capable of being ploughed., 
the economy of soiling is great ; and on all such farms may 
profitably ha adopted, provided that the expenses incident 
to the mode do not counterbalance these advantages. 

It may be, liowever, useful to observe, that the reason of 
tlie diversity of statement, in relation to the degree of sav- 
ing, among European writers, results from the different 
ways in which the land used for soiling is cidtivated for 



the purpose of raising food. Some satisfy themselves with 
enriching the former pasture, and cutting the grass it pro- 
duces, for the soiling use. Others plough up the pasture ; 
raise cabbages, or other succulent food, on which they sup- 
port their stock. Now, it is plain, the result of a comparison 
of saving of land made between an acre of enriched pasture, 
and an acre appropriated to the latter of these modes of 
husbandry, must be very different. 

In either case, the economy is sufficiently great ; and, if 
nothing else be an offset for the advantage, this must be 
decisive. 

2d, Saving- of fencing-. Here, also, is a great and de- 
cided economy. It includes not only the saving of the 
material used for fencing ; the labor of making the fence, 
and of keeping it in repair ; but also of the land occupied by 
the fences, and of all the headlands which are necessarily 
left on each side the fence, and which are usually an 
apology for slovenliness and a refuge for vermin. I have 
seen no precise estimate of this economy. Nor does it seem 
to be practicable to be made, upon any principle applica- 
ble to farms in general. It will be obviously greater or less 
according to the previous condition of the fences, and the 
ordinary necessity of erecting such as are usually deemed 
requisite on each particular farm. Here, also, the greatness 
of the economy is everywhere so obvious as to render any 
particular calculations unimportant. The general effect of 
soiling cattle is to render all interior fences absolutely use- 
less^ excepting those which surround the buildings, and 
lead from these to the highway. A farm thus relieved from 
interior fences not only enjoys all the exemptions from great 
actual and great annual expenditures ; but also there arc 



8 



other facilities in its management, resulting from this ab- 
sence of interior fences, which are obvious and considerable. 
There is no Avaste land. The whole may be divided into 
cultivation, with precise reference to the state of soil. 
When the plough runs, the length of the furrow is deter- 
mined only by the judgment of the proprietor. It presents 
to the eye a scene of cultivation', neat, orderly, and beau- 
tiful. 

3d. The economy of food. There arc six ways by which 
beasts destroy the article destined for their food, — 1. By 
eating ; 2. By walking ; 3. By dunging ; 4. By staling ; 
5. By lying down; 6. By breathing on it. Of these six, 
the first only is useful. All the others are wasteful. 

By pasturing, the five last modes are exercised without 
any check or compensation. By keeping in the house, they 
may be all prevented totally by great care, and almost totally 
by very general and common attention. 

It is on the saving rcsidting from this prevention of waste 
that much of the economy of this mode of keeping beasts 
depends. In pastures, whatever is trod upon, or is affected 
l)y their dung or their urine, is lain upon, or even long 
breathed upon, is lost. And this waste is always in pro- 
portion to the richness and the productive power of the 
pasture ; for just in that proportion is the quantity of food 
injured l)y all the five modes of destruction above stated ; 
whereas the same, being cut and delivered to them spar- 
ingly in point of time, but sufficiently in point of quantity, 
will every particle of it be consumed. Besides, it is found 
l)y experience, that, in this mode of feeding, beasts will cat 
many products of the earth, in the stall, which they will 
absolutely reject in the pasture. 



9 



4th. Tlic better condition and greater comfort of the 
cattle. 

The condition of cattle will always depend chiefly upon 
the quantity and the quality of the food, and regvdarity of 
their supply. In all these respects, feeding in the stall has 
the advantage of pasturing ; because, in stall-feeding, all are 
under the guidance of intelligence and discretion, and 
nothing is left to accident ; whereas, in pasturing, the beasts 
arc left to their own care. When the pastures are good, 
and there is a great surplus of food upon them, the diifer- 
ence is not, in this respect, great ; but as soon as the pas- 
tures become "pinched," as it is called, by drought, the 
difference is always perceptible. Farmers who pastvire 
their cattle, seldom, if ever, provide a supply of succulent 
food, to be in readiness in case of any accidental deficiency 
of pasture. The consequence is, that, on the pasturing sys- 
tem, the summer condition of cattle always depends wholly 
on the state of the pastures. Now, as every farmer, where 
he is able, does and ought to stock his pastures up to their 
fidl pasture-power, it follows, that even a small drought 
will affect the condition of the animal something, and a 
severe one very sensibly ; a fact of which every man may 
convince himself by observing cattle at pasture in dry 
seasons. Now, one great benefit resulting from stall-feed- 
ing is, that it makes the condition of cattle, in as great 
a degree as possible, independent of variations of the season ; 
and although an absolute independence is impossible, yet 
it is always much greater in stall-feeding than it can be in 
any mode of pasturing. 

The want of sufiicicnt exercise, which is inseparable from 
this mode of feeding in stalls, is a popular, and, when not 

2 



10 



tested by fact, is deemed an unanswerable objection. Yet 
all those who have made the experiment, and whose opinions 
I have seen expressed upon the subject, are unanimous in 
declaring that no ill eifect results from this circumstance. 
One writer asserts that he has kept a large herd for several 
years in this way ; and, during the whole time, " he never 
had an animal essentially sick, had never one die, and had 
never one miscarry." 

It is to be observed, that stall-feeding of cattle does not 
imply keeping cattle in stalls or in the house the icliole time. 
It only intends always feeding them there, and keeping 
them there the chief of the time. On the contrary, it is an 
essential part of the system to let them loose in yards well 
shaded, cither artificially or by trees, at least two hours in 
the forenoon, and as many in the afternoon. Hero they lay 
themselves at their ease, in the best ruminating attitudes ; 
or move round, taking some exercise in that act, or in rub- 
bing themselves against posts provided for the purpose. If 
any person will observe the slowness with which cattle 
usually walk in their pastures ; that while, in feeding, they 
do little more than stand ; and, when full, that they almost 
invariably lie down, — he will hardly believe that the differ- 
ence between the exercise thus attained, and that which they 
get hj having four hours in the day exclusively devoted 
to that object, can scarcely materially affect their health. 
When to this is added the •consideration, that, when fed in 
the stall, they are wholly protected from eating any noxious 
vegetables ; from drinking bad water ; from all injury ; from 
being worried l:>y dogs, or one another ; that they are kept, 
through the heat of the day, in the cool shades; under 
cover; protected fr®m flies, — it cannot be a question 



11 



that this mode is far more conducive to the health of the 
animal than pasturing possibly can be. Experience is also 
decisive upon the subject. If the condition of the animal 
be, as is here shown, better, it follows that this state must be 
more comfortable ; for the one is dependent on the other. 

5th. Greater product of milk. Although it is generally 
stated that this is the case, yet I do not recollect having 
met with any precise comparison upon the subject. The 
general apprehension among farmers seems to be, that 
although the condition of the animal may be better, yet 
that the tendency of the food to milk is not so great as 
when they arc permitted to range in pastures. The truth, 
however, upon this point, can easily be explained, and in a 
manner perfectly conformable to my own experience. Dur- 
ing the flush of feed (that is, for perhaps the first month 
after cattle are turned to pasture), there is little difference, 
as far as respects the milk product, between pasturing and 
stall-feeding. At that time, there is generally a great supply 
of food. The cattle arc eager after it. They have great 
opportunity to select. They feed quietly, and take only 
the most nutritious and palatable. After this month, this 
equality will gradually cease, and in favor of the stall- 
feeder. The pasture-food almost always grows more or 
less scarce, according to the particular character of the 
season ; whereas, by taking care to provide a regular suc- 
cession of succulent crops, he who feeds his cattle in stalls 
may keep the milk product, unaffected by the state of the 
season, to the end of the autumn. 

6th. The attaimjient of manure. This is a great and 
characteristic benefit resulting from soiling, or stall-feed- 
ing, of cattle through the year. In pasturing, the summer 



12 



manure is almost wholly lost. It falls upon rocks, among 
bushes, in watercourses, on the sides of hills. It is evapo- 
rated by the sun. It is washed away by the rain. Insects 
destroy a part. The residuum (a dry, hard cake) lies some- 
times a year upon the ground ; often impeding vegetation, 
and never enriching the earth in anything like the i)ro- 
portion it would do if it had been deposited under cover, 
and kept free from the action of the sun in appropriate and 
covered receptacles, to be carted out annually in the proper 
season, and ploughed at once under the surface. 

The gain by this saving of the summer manure of beasts 
is stated by European writers, but generally loosely, and 
often in measures of quantity or capacity not easily re- 
ducible to those which prevail in our country. It is, 
however, unequivocally very great and important, and well 
worthy the solicitude of every farmer. As the great object 
of every farmer ought to be to increase his quantity of 
manures, there can be no mode preferable to the one 
here suggested ; for, suitable receptacles or recipients being- 
provided, everything of the nature of excrementitious matter 
is preserved and deposited in the soil at the leisure and at 
tlie discretion of the farmer. 

It was the conviction, resulting from the preceding facts 
and statements, which led me to adopt, two or three years 
since, the idea of putting my farm into this mode of man- 
agement. The particular situation of it seemed to point it 
out as precisely suited to such a mode of conduct. It is a 
level plain, constituted of alluvium upon clay, occasionally 
intermixed with lighter quality of soil. It had no fences 
but post and rails ; so that, by adopting this mode, it might 
be wholly relieved from interior fences, the expense of which 



13 



liad always been a heavy item in my farm-accounts. F(H" 
the three years past, I have been in this practice ; dur- 
ing the two former years, with some occasional deviations ; 
during the last, regularly and systematically, without any 
deviation. The result has been all that I anticipated, in 
every respect. Indeed, it has been so satisfactory, that I 
think no considerations would induce me to adopt a different 
mode in the management of my stock. 

The result of my experience has been perfectly conform- 
able to the statements made by European writers. 

My stock has been uniformly healthy ; in a condition 
generally superior to my neighbors', all of whom pastured 
their cattle. In point of milk, during the flush of feed in 
June, the product was not inferior to any, according to the 
number of my cows, with which I had an opportunity to 
compare. In July and August, in my vicinity, the drought 
was severe, and the milch cows in my neighborhood fell off 
in their milk nearly, and some quite, a half. Mine Avcre 
kept during the whole season without any sensible diminu- 
tion which could be attributed to the want of food or its 
quality. The cows throve, and showed no marks of discon- 
tent. None W'Cre materially sick. I lost none. 

With respect to stock, the practice upon my farm had 
been, from almost time immemorial, to keep from ten to 
fifteen head of cattl'e. For the support of these, about fifty 
acres of land were appropriated during the summer months ; 
besides which, they were permitted to range in the autumn 
over the mowing. The result was, that, in good seasons, 
the stock throve, and were kept well. When the seasons 
were dry, they fared badly. When the drought was severe, 
they were shut up, and fed upon cornstalks or hay. This 



14 



was the usual course. And the practice and the result is, 
at this day, very similar in all my vicinity. 

My practice, and the result of the past year, were the fol- 
lowing : — 

My stock, consisting at an average of twenty cows, were 
kept in their stalls through the whole year. The practice 
was to feed them aboTit six times in the day, and to permit 
them to range in a yard, about eighty feet square, two hours 
in the forenoon, and two in the afternoon. They were kept 
well littered and well curried. While they were out of the 
stable, tlie attendant took that opportunity to clean tlie stalls 
and to supply fresh litter. During winter, they were fed, 
as is usual, with salt and fresh hay and vegetables. From 
June to November, inclusive, may be considered, strictly 
speaking, the soiling season ; by which is imderstood that 
in whicli they are fed with green food in the house. As 
this is the critical period, I shall be minute in tlic account 
of my preparations and proceedings. 

In the autumn preceding, I had caused rye to be sown 
upon an inverted sward, very thick, on about three acres. 
Early in April, I prepared and sowed, in manner as shall be 
stated afterwards, aljout three acres and one quarter of land 
with Indian corn in drills. I also sowed about three acres 
of oats and buckwheat, broadcast, at the rate of three bush- 
els to the acre, about the latter end of the month. The 
whole quantity of land I thus prepared to be used in soiling, 
in aid of my grass, did but little exceed nine acres. Of 
these, that which I sowed with rye turned out so poorly, 
that I never soiled from it more than five days ; so that, in 
fact, the land thus prepared did, in efficiency, but little 
exceed six acres. 



15 



About tho 1st of Juno, cattle, in goucral, were, tliis sea- 
son, turned out to pasture. On the oOtli of May, my farmer 
began to cut the sides of the road leading to my house from 
tho highway and orchard. He continued to soil from this, 
and from grass growing in my orchard, until the 7th. On 
this day he altandoned cutting the grass for soiling, and be- 
gan to cut from the wint(!r rye. This was found too tough, 
and it was quitted ; and my farmer returned to soiling upon 
grass. Hiiving cut over all the refuse of my grass by the 
24th of June, he then went into the poorest of my mowing- 
land, and afterwards into my clover. From this he con- 
tinued to soil until the Gth of July. By this time he had 
gone over not much short of three acres of mowing land. 
On the Gth of July, he began to soil from my oats. He 
continued to soil from these until the 21st of July. On 
the 21st of July, he began to soil on Indian corn ; on 
which he continued until the 26th, when he began to cut 
aboiit two acres of late and light barley. On this he con- 
tinued until the 30th of July ; when lie recommenced soiling 
on corn-fodder, and continued upon it until the 31st day of 
August. On this day began to cut over the road-sides, which 
had been first cut early in June. This was continued only 
to the 2d of September ; when he began to cut the second 
crop of Indian corn growing upon the three and one fourth 
acres of Indian corn, which had now shot up in great luxu- 
riance from the roots of that which had been cut over be- 
tween the 21st and 26th of July. On this soiling continued 
until the 8th of September. 

On the 9th and 10th, he soiled upon about a fourth of an 
acre of millet and buckwheat ; on the lltli, soiled on a 
second crop of clover ; from the 12th to the loth, inclu- 



16 



sivc, oil cornstalks of about an acre of sweet corn ; and, on 
the IGth, on a patch of millet and oats. This was continued 
to the 20th ; when he began on two acres of Indian corn, 
sown in drills, on the 1st of August, on land from which a 
crop of pease had been previously taken. Soiling was con- 
tinued on this corn until the 3d of October. From this 
time until tlie 15th of October the soiling was wholly from 
second-crop grass taken from various parts of my mowing- 
land. 

From the 15th of October to about the 20th of November 
they were kept wholly upon carrot and turnip tops, arising 
from the topping of about twelve acres of both ; being al- 
lowed always one foddering of salt hay. This finished the 
summer feeding. From this time they are kept wholly upon 
salt and English hay. The result, then, of this experiment, 
so far as relates to land, is the following : — 

The twenty head consumed the product of 
2.1 acres, road-sides and orchard. 



3 


a 


mowing land. 


H 


a 


Indian corn, cut as fodder. 


2 


a 


late and light barley. 


3 


ii 


oats. 


2 


a 


late sown Indian corn after a pea-crop. 


1 


acre 


buckwheat. 


1 


a 


millet, buckwheat, and oats. 



17 acres. 
This is the whole land which was cut over for soiling, 
with the exception of the after-feed on the mowing land, 
and the tops of carrots and turnips. In comparing this 
result with the former practice of my farm, I apprehend 
the following statement to be just: — 



17 



I offset the keeping from the 11th of September to the 
20th of November against the old manner of letting the cat- 
tle run at large during the autumn months on the mowing 
land, to its great injury, hj poaching and close feeding. If 
this should not be deemed sufficient, I then make no esti- 
mate of the difference between keeping fifteen head of cattle, 
the old stock, and twenty head of cattle, my present stock. 
After these allowances and offsets (which no man can doubt 
are sufficiently liberal), then I state that my experiment has 
resulted, in relation to land, in this, that I have kept the 
same amount of stock, by soiling' on seventeen acres of land 
ivhich had alvmys previously required fifty acres. The 
result is, in my opinion, even in this respect, greater than 
what is here stated. This, however, is sufficient to exhibit 
the greatness of the economy of this mode, so far as relates 
to land. 

With respect to saving of fencing, the previous condition 
of my farm was this. I had, at the lowest estimate, five 
miles of interior fence (equal to sixteen hundred rods), 
which, at one dollar the rod, was equal, in original cost, to 
sixteen hundred dollars, and annually, for repairs and re- 
fitting, cost sixty dollars. I have now not one rod of interior 
fence. Of course, this saving is great, distinct, and undeni- 
able. 

In relation to manures, the effect of soiling is not less 
apparent and unquestionable. The exact amount of sum- 
mer product I have not attempted to ascertain : but I am 
satisfied, that, everything considered, it is not less than one 
buck-load per month per head ; or, on twenty head of cattle, 
one hundred and twenty loads for the six soiling months. 
In this estimate, I take into consideration the advantage 



18 



resulting from the urine saved, by means of loam, sand, or 
some imliibing recipient, prepared to absorb it. 

It remains to show that the cost of raising the food, cut- 
ting it, and distributing it to the cattle, is compensated by 
these savings. Upon this point, my own experience has 
satisfied me, that the value of the manure alone is an ample 
compensation for all this expense ; leaving the saving of 
land, of food, and of fencing-stuff, as well as the better 
condition of the cattle, as a clear gain from the system. As 
an evidence of this, I state my expenses for labor in con- 
ducting the soiling process. 

During the month of June, I hired a man to do every- 
thing appertaining to the soiling process ; that is, cutting the 
food, delivering it, taking care of the cattle in the daytime, 
for fifteen dollars the month, he finding himself. In this 
arrangement, it was estimated that I availed myself of half 
his labor. At the end of the month, I had the manure 
measured ; and I found that the manure collected in my 
recci)taclc (which was a cellar, under the barn), and not 
including that which had been made during the four hours 
each day in the yard, amounted to fifteen loads, — a 
quantity of manure which I could not have placed on 
my farm for thirty dollars ; and which I could have sold 
there for twenty dollars, upon the condition it should be 
carried away. It cost me, as above stated, fifteen dollars in 
the labor of the attendant. 

During the remaining five months, I added another man, 
because I found that a great economy in vegetable food 
would result from cutting it into pieces by a cutting-knife, 
and mixing with it al)out one third of cut salt hay or straw. 
This was done : and I kept an accurate account of all the 



19 



labor of cutting the food in the field, bringing it into the 
barn, cutting it up there, cutting salt hay or straw to mix 
with it, mixing this food, and delivering it to the cattle ; 
and found that it amounted to one hundred and forty-eight 
days' labor. This, estimated at a dollar the day, is one 
hundred and forty-eight dollars ; to which adding fifteen 
dollars paid for labor in the month of June, the whole ex- 
pense was one hundred and sixty-three dollars. 

The manure, at the end of the soiling season, certainly 
equalled one hundred and twenty loads ; and could not have 
been bought, and brought there, for three hundred dollars. 
Let it be estimated at only two hundred dollars in value. 
No man can question, I think, the correctness of my assertion, 
that the value of the manure obtained is a clear compensa- 
tion for this amount of labor ; and this including all the 
expense of labor connected with soiling. 

It remains to be shown in ivhat manner the whole pro- 
cess ought to be conducted by any one who may originally 
attempt it, and also liow far it is applicable to the farming 
condition of New England, and what species of farmers 
would find their account in attempting it. 

As to the manner in which the soiling process ought to be 
conducted, besides that general care and personal superin- 
tendence (at least occasionally, and by way of oversight) 
which is essential to success in this as in every other busi- 
ness in life, three general objects ought to claim the atten- 
tion of every farmer or other person who undertakes this 
process. 

1. Provision against seasons of extraordinary drought, or 
deficiency of general crop from any other natural accident. 

2. Succession of succulent food during the whole soiling 
season, and facility of its attainment. 



20 



3. Preparation relative to care of the stock, and increase 
of manure, — the particular objects of the soiling process. 

As to provision against seasons of extraordinary drought, 
or deficiency of general crop from any other natural acci- 
dent, I make this suggestion from respect to an obvious 
dictate of prudence, rather than because such has been my 
own practice. In fact, I have never made any such pro- 
vision. Years of uncommon drought, or sterility from other 
causes, are so uncommon in our country, that I have hith- 
erto neglected, and without injury, this plain suggestion of 
prudence. As a general rule, however, a farmer commen- 
cing and adopting this plan would act wisely to keep on 
hand a month or six weeks' stock of hay or other food, so 
as to have assurance that his cattle should not suffer from 
any untoward accident of season. A mixture of dry food 
with the succulent is often very conducive to the health of 
the animals soiled, and enables the feeder to check the too 
great looseness of the bowels, — often the effect of high feed- 
ing upon succulent vegetables. 

Some provision of dry food against such exigency, and 
for such purposes, is wise, as a dictate of foresight. It is 
also as a dictate of economy, as some mixture of dry food 
with succulent makes the latter go much farther ; and, on 
very stormy days, enables the feeder to preserve the general 
and desired state of the cattle soiled with less personal ex- 
posure. 

As to the second general object of attention, — succession 
of succulent food during the whole of the soiling season, 
and facility of its attainment. This includes, — 

1. Nature of the crop used for soiling. 

2. Time and mode of sowing and cultivMion. 



21 



3, Mode of taking and applying the crop, and the reLa- 
tivc location of the ground, used for soiling, to the place 
where the cattle is soiled. 

1. As to the nature of the croji used for soiling. This 
must, of course, be different in different climates. The 
English speak of lucern, clover, pease, cabbages, as used 
for this purpose. Of all these, clover is that which is the 
most capable, in this country, of being made usefid in this 
system. Unquestionably, however, any succulent vegetable 
which cattle consume may be used, according to the dis- 
cretion which acquaintance with its nature dictates. With- 
out dilating, generally, on the applicability of all of these 
vegetables, and leaving every farmer to take advantage of 
these and every other he may deem useful and find con- 
venient, I shall state my own practice and experience. 

These have led me to simplify and reduce the numl^cr of 
vegetables used, for the purpose of making the cultivation 
and effect of each species selected a distinct subject of con- 
sideration, and for the enabling me to have the great sup- 
ports of the system well established This effected, it is 
easy to change and to deviate into other vegetables, or to 
introduce them in aid of those on which any one chooses 
principally to rely. In making my selection, I was guided 
by the nature of the climate, and by the consideration of 
the vegetable selected being the best known and most suc- 
cessfully cultivated in the neighborhood. I use but four, — 
1st, grass ; 2d, oats ; 3d, Indian corn ; 4th, cabbages. 

1. Grass. I depend upon this for the first month of the 
soiling season ; beginning, in our climate, about the 20th of 
May or 1st of June, and terminating about the 1st of July. 

In my own practice, I have contented myself with com- 



22 



mencing soiling at the time at which cattle arc, in this 
climate, usually turned out to grass. It would he wise, 
and, I apprehend, easily practicable, to introduce some vege- 
table, which, sown the preceding year, would enable the 
farmer to commence cutting earlier, and so carry back 
the commencement of the soiling season to the 1st of May, 
possiljly earlier. This, however, I have never attempted ; 
partly because it required personal attention which I could 
not give, consistent with my other avocations ; and partly 
because, in the commencement of the system, I thought it 
wise to limit my experiments to the period in which cattle 
are usually kept upon pasture ; leaving it to future experi- 
ence to enlarge the benefits and length of the soiling season ; 
fearing lest, by attempting too much, I might be discour- 
aged, and by failure, in part, might i)ut to hazard the great 
olyects of the system which are attained when vegetables 
taken for soiling are made a complete substitute for vegeta- 
l)les fed by the cattle themselves from the })asture. For the 
first month, therefore, of the soiling season, I depend upon 
grass. 

Concerning the quantity of land in grass necessary to be 
applied to the support of any specific number of cattle, I 
have no experience sufticient to state it with accuracy. My 
own practice has been to cut from the earliest grass I could 
find in small pieces and patches about my house, and by 
sides of an enclosed road, of which I could not easily take 
an exact measurement. Minute calculations on this point 
must obviously be very uncertain and unsatisfjictory ; as the 
capacity of every given piece of land to support any speci- 
fied number of cattle must depend iipon its heart, and state 
of cultivation. It will be sufficient to say, that my own ex- 



pcricncc authorizes mc to state, that one acre of good clover 
or any early grass, cut for soiling, is ample for the support 
of six head of fidl-grown cattle from the 20th of ]\Iay to 
the 20th June. As it is hest, however, in all calculations 
of this kind, to provide agauist all contingencies, my rule is 
to consider one quarter of an acre of my best grass-produ- 
cing land as appropriated to each head of soiling cattle, for 
its support between the 20th May and 1st of July. Less 
than that quantity has always been sufficient on my farm. 
If it be not used for soiling, the produce is housed as hay 
for the winter. 

Small farmers who should top-dress the land, every day 
cut over, with the water leached from the manure-heap, 
would reduce the extent of land, required for the process of 
soiling, very considerably. 

It is needless to give any directions, relating to any partic- 
ular preparation for the soiling process, for this first period. 
What is required is only land in its best grass state, — good 
mowing land, — to be reserved at the rate of a quarter of 
an acre for each head of cattle soiled, and for the facility 
of feeding and of manuring for after-feed as near the barn 
where the cattle are kept as possible. 

The preparation of oats, Indian corn, and cabbages re- 
quire somewhat more particular attention. 

Preparation of soiling food, in April, for July. First, of 
oats. These are, on my farm, made to succeed grass ; and 
usually afford a good cut about the 1st of July. As it is 
important, in every plan of husbandry, to simplify as much 
as possible, I shall consider oats as the food exclusively des- 
tined for the month of July ; although, in fact, at the latter 
part of the month, Indian-corn stalks may begin to be cut; 



24 



and had often better be commenced, not only for the sake 
of diversifying the feed of the stock, but because the corn- 
stalks cut in the latter part of this month will be more 
likely to vegetate anew with luxuriance than if cut later. 

With this explanation, I state oats, cut in the milk, to be 
the food, in this climate, for the support of the soiling pro- 
cess in July. As it is important to get the cattle off of the 
grass-land as soon as possible, to the end that the winter 
crop of hay may be the more abundant, sp the preparation 
for oats ought to be as early as possible. It will be best if 
the land have been thoroughly ploughed the autumn pre- 
ceding. It ought to be land in excellent heart, — all my 
calculations being made on land in such a state ; it being 
obvious that calculations on any other must be altogether 
uncertain, and various in result. It ought, also, to be land 
which had been cultivated and well manured the year pre- 
ceding. As soon as the frost is out of the ground, it should 
be ploughed at least once, and the oats sowed broadcast, at 
the rate of four bushels to the acre at least. The land 
should then be harrowed and rolled. Oats thus sowed at 
the earliest moment possible will generally be ready for the 
scythe about the 1st of July. 

As to the quantity of land thus to be prepared. One acre 
for every four head of cattle soiled (that is, one quarter of 
an acre for each head) will be sufficient. At least, such has 
been invariably my experience, where the land is in proper 
heart and tilth. In order to test this point, I have not only 
observed and compared the general extent of land cut over 
with the whole number of cattle soiled, but also have more 
than once had the quantity eaten by a certain number of 
head in a certaui number of days, on a measured extent, 



25 



compared. The result of my experiment is, that one square 
rod of oats, in full milk, growing on land in proper (that is, 
higli) tilth, will support one head of cattle a day. One 
quarter of an acre, or forty square rods, for thirty days, is a 
fair basis of calculation, and making a sufficiently liberal 
allowance for accident. 

In the outset of attempting this system, I should recom- 
mend somewhat enlarging this quantity ; that is, sowing 
somewhat more than a quarter of an acre for every head of 
cattle soiled. 

1st. Because, in farming, as little should be left to chance 
as possible. 

2d. Because nothing is lost. If there be an excess, it may 
be cut and dried for winter food. 

3d. Because the necessity for beginning to cut a little 
before the oats are in full milk, and sometimes of extending 
the cut a little after that period, will affect the general re- 
sult of all calculations relative to the productive power of 
the land. 

In reference to the fact, and upon the supposition on 
which we are now proceeding, that oats alone, without aid 
from any other product, are relied upon for the whole montli 
of July, the sowing ought to be successive : viz. one half 
the destined quantity of land as early as the seed can be 
got into the land ; the other half a fortnight later, so that 
the crop may have some succession. It would be probably 
better if the whole extent destined were divided into fourths, 
and sowed, each fourth, with a week or ten days interven- 
ing. Thus, supposing the number of cattle soiled to be 
four, requiring one acre, according to my practice ; and 
one quarter should be sowed on the 1st of April, one quarter 



26 



on the 8th, one on the 15th and 22d. My own practice 
has not been thus subdivided. I have found one sowing 
about the 10th, and one about the 15th, to answer. 

2d. Indian corn. This, according to that simple plan of 
conducting the soiling process I am describing, is to be re- 
lied upon for food during the month of August. 

The estimate made concerning the capacity of land in 
oats to support stock, may, for all practical purposes, be as- 
sumed to be the same when in Indian corn ; that is, a quar- 
ter of an acre to support one head for the month. Some- 
Avhat more than that quantity to be sown per head, for the 
same reasons as those stated in relation to oats ; the land to 
be in the same heart and tilth ; to receive, at least, one 
ploughing and harrowing about the latter end of April, and 
in the beginning of May ; after which, light furrows should 
be run three feet asunder, at the depth of three or four inches. 
In these furrows corn should be sown broadcast, about the 
thickness, and in the same manner, as pease are sown, in 
field culture of them. The corn may then be covered by 
the plough ; although, in my experience, a harrow drawn 
lengthways, and then crossways, followed by a roller, is suf- 
ficient, and to be preferred, for this operation. 

If the farmer choose, and his fund of manure permit, the 
furrows, previous to planting, may be lightly strewed with 
manure to obvious advantage. This, hoAvever, has not 
been my practice. Grain of any kind, not permitted to 
seed, but little exhausts the land ; but, if it be repeated, it 
will require, of course, some provision of manure to prevent 
its deterioration. He, however, who carries on a soiling 
system upon any important scale, will never want for 
manure. 



27 



Com thus sown will be ready to cut the latter end of 
July and the beginning of August. The whole month of 
August, I have found Indian corn, cut in the stalk, the best 
soiling food. If, however, the farmer prefer to give a variety, 
he may sow a part of the land in oats instead of corn, and 
alternate through the month of August on oats and Indian 
corn. 

In the middle of May, in the beginning and middle of 
June, and even as late as the 1st of August, in our climate, 
a portion of land, proportionate to the number of cattle, 
should be sowed in like manner, on which soiling may be 
continued during the whole month of September. In this 
month, however, reliance may be placed upon the grass of 
the second crop from those acres from which soiling was 
effected in the month of June. The grass of the second 
crop will generally enable the farmer to soil to the 15th of 
October, if his grass-land be in proper tilth and heart. 

After the 15th of October, to the beginning or the middle 
of November, the tops of his winter vegetables, such as 
carrots or turnips, — and which, in every good system of 
farming, should be raised in proportion to the stock kept, — 
should be relied upon. 

After which, cabbages should succeed until the time when 
all cattle are housed in this climate. 

Reduced to a single statement, my experience and system 
is, for the support of my soiled stock during the months of 
July, August, and September, to sow, in the months of April, 
May, June, and July, equal to three quarters of an acre of 
land for each head of cattle soiled, in such succession as 
will give also a regular succession of succulent food in the 
three first-mentioned months. 



28 



For their support from the 20th of May, and during tlio 
month of Juno, I reserve early clover or other grass, at 
the rate of one quarter of an acre for each head of cattle 
soiled. 

For their support during the first half of October, I 
depend u])on the second growth of the half-acre cut over in 
May and June, and the second growth of the oats and corn 
cut over in July. 

This period, between the 20th May and the IStli October, 
is the only one on which I rely on grass, oats, and Indian 
corn ; and includes a reservation and employment of land 
equal to one acre per head of cattle soiled. 

My own experience has been always less than this ; never 
having exceeded, as I believe, seventeen acres for twenty 
head ; and those never in that state of higli tilth which in 
this systematic statement I recommend. 

In truth, the capacity of an acre to maintain cattle in a 
soiling process, if conducted with due attention to develop 
its full powers, is probably four or five times greater than 
this. But I choose to raise no extravagant expectations. In 
the commencement of every new system mistakes will be 
made. Great diversities in quality or state of land must 
exist ; and will, of course, occasion a diversity in result. 
Besides, the soiling process, beyond all others, requires "\dgi- 
lance and foresight. Cattle, in this process, are not left to 
range over an immeasurable extent of pasture, composed of 
grass, heath, rock, marsh, brush, and brier, about which the 
owner makes no calculation ; sometimes stocking it beyond, 
and sometimes beneath, its power ; in good seasons, keeping 
them well ; in bad, affording them lean and scanty fare, 
scarcely sufficient to support life, and wholly inadequate to 



29 



a profitable return. In the soiling process, they are put 
under the care of intelligence. It must exist, and must be 
exercised. If this be the case, the reward from the system, 
on farms suited for it, is ample. For myself, after a trial of 
six years, no consideration would induce mc to change it 
for the old method of pasturing. 

It remains to explain the soiling system during the residue 
of the season, — viz. from the 15th of October to the middle 
or the latter end of November ; at which time, stock, in this 
climate, usually begin upon their winter food. In my sys- 
tem, I have depended upon the tops of carrots and turnips 
destined either for the market or for the winter food of 
stock. My practice has been to raise from eight to twelve 
acres of vegetables ; the tops of which, with a single fod- 
dering of salt hay per day, have been, according to my 
experience, sufficient to support equal to twenty head of 
cattle from the 15th of October to the middle or latter end 
of November. 

If, however, the farmer is not in the practice of raising a 
sufficient quantity of roots to yield a support for his stock 
for six weeks, cabbages are, in this climate, the farmer's 
best dependence, after the second cutting of the grass, and 
corn and oat fodder fail. 

The preparation for cabbages, in field culture, is so well 
and universally known, it needs no explanation. It is suffi- 
cient to say, that in suitable soil, well manured, a thousand 
plants, weighing upon an average fifteen pounds, may easily 
be raised on the eighth of an acre. These, at two hundred 
pounds per day per head, or thirteen and a quarter cab- 
bages, will be sufficient for each head of cattle seventy days ; 
which is ample for the support of each head to the 1st of 
December. 



30 



With respect to care of the stock, and increase of manure, 
— the particular objects of the soihng process. All the care 
of the stock requisite is keeping them clean, and currying 
them every day ; throwing the manure into the proper re- 
ceptacle ; seeing that the cattle are regularly and sufficiently 
watered, and that they be permitted to be at large in a 
yard, of a common barnyard size, at least two hours in the 
morning, and two in the afternoon. The yard will be best 
if a part of it be shaded, or sheltered from the direct rays 
of the sun. 

The food is distributed in racks, under cover or in the barn, 
about six times a day, in due proportions, which the usual 
practical knowledge of a farmer will easily regulate. 

A cellar under the barn, or at least a covered receptacle 
for the manure, clayed at the bottom, or stoned, so as to be 
water-tight ; to the end that the drainings of the manure 
should not escape in the subsoil. The yard and floor of the 
l)arn should also be so constructed as to direct the urine 
into such a covered, water-tight receptacle. 

This is particularly necessary in the soiling process ; inas- 
much as the manure made by succulent food is rich and 
watery, and liable to be in a degree wasted by the action of 
the sun's rays in an open yard. But, when under cover, it 
is the richest of all manures of like species ; and is qualified, 
beyond all others, to impart its riches to soil and earth 
thrown into the receptacle, and mixed with this summer's 
manure. 

Hogs, also, should be permitted to range into it from the 
hog-pen, not only for the purpose of mixing the deposit to- 
gether, but also on account of economy. In all soiling, 
some waste of green food is unavoidable, either from some- 



times cutting more than can bo consumed in the day, or 
from its being blown upon by tlie cattle. This, hogs con- 
sume, and prevent loss of it. 

The increase of manure in this mode exceeds all antici- 
pation. It is on this account that the soiling process claims 
tlie attention of farmers, who are always ready to say, " We 
can do well enough, only give us manure. The want of 
manure is our great want." This is supplied by the soiling 
process, in a mode cheap, easy, within the resources of every 
farmer, and leading, in its event, to the highest and most 
satisfactory of all methods of conducting a farm. 

I have been the more minute in this statement ; and shall 
not fail hereafter to communicate my experience in this 
system, because I apprehend it is peculiarly suited to the 
farming condition of Massachusetts ; and although it is, at 
present, almost unknown, and wholly unpractised, — at 
least, I have never heard that it is as yet practised, upon 
any considerable scale, on any farm, except my own, — yet 
I am satisfied that it will gradually grow into use ; and the 
sooner it can be made to be understood, and the way shown, 
the better for our Commonwealth. A farmer, now-a-days, 
who has but thirty or forty acres of land, feels himself, in 
some measure, straitened for want of room. He is tempted 
to buy pasture-ground, to widen his surface, perhaps to 
run in debt, and embarrass himself for life, for the sake 
of what he thinks the " one thing- needfuV^ for a farmer, — 
much land. When his sons come of age, if he cannot give 
them more than thirty or forty acres they must abandon 
their homes, the land of their fathers, and all the privi- 
leges of a cultivated and improved society, to seek a great 
farm in Western wildernesses. 



32 



Now, all this is mistake, and want of knowledge, of the 
productive power of the soil, when highly cultivated. The 
first step for farmers to take is to reverse their old prejudices 
in this respect ; and, instead of calculating how much more 
land they want, let them try with how little they can do, 
and do well. 

There is no proposition in nature more true, than that any 
farmer may maintain, upon thirty acres of good arable land, 
tiventij head of cattle, in better condition with more profit, 
with more comfort to the animals, with less labor, less trou- 
ble, and less cash advance, to himself, than he at present 
usually expends upon a hundred acres. In addition to 
which, he will have the great satisfaction of seeing, in time, 
every square inch of his land productive ; instead of seeing, 
as he does now, not more than one part in four of his farm 
producing anything ; or, at least, ^lything that will pay the 
expense of harvesting. 

But how is this practice to be introduced ? I answer. 
Gradually. Let farmers " feel their way " into it. If any 
farmer thinks that he wants more pasture-land in order to 
keep more cattle in the summer, in order to consume his 
hay, or to make manure in winter, instead of running in 
debt, or laying out his money in more land, let him keep 
himself free of debt, or put his money out at interest, and 
try soiling. Let him be assured he will find his account in 
it. But how shall he try Shall he shut up all his cattle 
at once ; enter upon a scheme recommended by book-writ- 
ers ; and perhaps fail, either from accident or misappre- 
hension, the first year? By no means. Every practical 
farmer, if he be wise, will, on the one hand, never utterly 
fclight the suggestions of books and writers on the subject of 



his art ; and, on the other, will never enter upon them at 
once, on any great and decisive scale. As the saying is, 
" he will always feel his way." Thus, for instance, in this 
case of soiling. A farmer, ignorant of the subject, yet will- 
ing to try the experiment, should commence with one or 
two head of cattle. Let him set aside, at first, two acres 
of land for each head. Nothing will be lost if there be an 
excess of the oats or corn, sown for soiling, beyond the con- 
sumption : the surplus, cut in season, will remain for winter's 
food. Let him go through, for one year, a course of soiling 
such as is suggested, for one or two head of cattle. Let 
him oversee the feeding himself, or by a confidential hand. 
A boy, if trustworthy, is sufficient for such an experiment, 
acting under the daily directions of his father or master. 
Let him provide a pit, or cellar, covered, or under the 
barn, or so placed in relation to the cattle soiled as that 
the manure and urine can be easily preserved ; the cellar or 
receptacle being water-tight. If this be so situated as that 
his hogs can have fair play among the deposits, it is impos- 
sible but that he will find his account in it. 

One year's success will enable him, and, I cannot ques- 
tion, will induce him, to double, if not treble, his next year's 
experiment. Soon he will, if the nature of his farm permit, 
shut up his whole stock ; and ultimately will arrive at a 
state of conviction and feeling such as will never permit 
him again, on any CDusideration, to allow cattle to run at 
large on any of his land which is capable of being ploughed 
and mown. 

I' know it will be asked, What shall be done with rocky 
land, and land suitable only for pastures ? My answer is, 
that where a farmer has nothing else but rock or pasture land 

5 



34 



or sand, which cannot be made subject to cultivation, he 
must manage according to his condition. Good farming is 
making the most of land according to its nature. If a man 
have a sand-ljank on the margin of the ocean, he can make 
salt ; if nothing but some perpendicular mountain-rocks, it 
will be best, probably, to keep goats. So of the rest. Farm- 
ing, to be good, must always have reference to the species 
and capacity of the soil. 

The system I advocate has reference to arable land; to 
that portion of it on ever?/ marl's farm ivhich is capable of 
being- plovg-hed and moived over. Every man who wislies 
to make the most of this part of his farm Avill effect this 
the most certainly, the most economically, and the most 
satisfactorily, by the mode I recommend. If a man have 
part pasture and part arable, he may soil for part, and pas- 
ture for part. There is nothing inconsistent in this : on the 
contrary, the soiling is a great support to the pasture ; be- 
cause, wlicu the pasture fails (as in dry seasons it often will), 
a man who soils part will always provide a surplus of his 
soiling food to meet such a contingency. 

In answer to the question. What species of farmers will 
find tlieir account in attempting to soil ? I answer. Every 

FARMER WHO WANTS MANURE AT A CHEAP AND EASY RATE. TllC 

greatest profit of soiling arises from the quantity of manure 
it enables the farmer to make ; more than doubling it upon 
the same stock. It may be adopted, I apprehend, as an 
axiom, almost universal, — certainly so, exccj)t in cases of 
very great proximity to a town or village, — that soiling is the 
cheapest of all modes of obtaining manures. In this point 
of view, the saving of fence, the economy of land, of food, 
tlie increase of milk, and the better condition of the cattle, — 



35 



all of which have been shown to be the consequences of this 
method, — may be considered as uicidental to the system, as 
an offset for the labor requisite ; giving the manure made 
as a clear gain ; and, what is more, without the loss and 
trouble and expense of carting from a distance. It is not 
only made, but it is placed, just where it should be, — in the 
farmer's own stercorary, or covered manure-heap. 

The rich farmer and the extensive landholder ought to 
avail himself of it, if he wants manure. If he have capital, 
he may stock his pasture-land up to its full pasture-power, 
and keep a number of head additional on the soiling system, 
according to the quantity of manure of which he stands in 
need. But the conduct of a farm, upon a great scale of this 
nature, depends upon so many circumstances, that the par- 
ticular mode or extent of applying this system, as subsidiary 
to pasturing, cannot be prescribed by any general rule. 
Calculations must have reference to a knowledge of all the 
particular circumstances and relations of such a farm and 
such a capitalist farmer. 

To farmers who possess only ten, fifteen, or twenty acres 
of land, this system is peculiarly applicable. Upon this they 
may build up a most prosperous agriculture, with little 
capital, little more than ordinary trouble, and little or no 
risk ; relieved from debt, which is so frequently the farmer's 
ruin, under the idea of the necessity of purchasing more 
land ; and relieved, also, from the pain and vexation of 
owning and superintending a vast surface, — everywhere 
less productive than it ought to be ; and, in a very great 
proportion, often not productive at all. 

I have thus endeavored to give, according to the request 
of the Trustees, an account of the mode of my conducting 



36 

the soiling process, and the result of my own experience. 
It is now six years since I commenced it ; and no considera- 
tion would induce me to abandon it. Every year brhia:s 
new conviction of its facility and its productiveness. 

If farmers would be persuaded to commence the system 
upon a small scale, with one or two head of cattle, they 
would gradually become acquainted with it ; success would 
inspire confidence; until, enlarging the number of cattle 
soiled, they might, in time, easily keep one head per year 
for every acre of land they possess. Far greater than this 
would be the fair ultimate result of the system, if wisely 
conducted. Besides which, they would find other economies 
and advantages resulting from it, amply compensating for all 
the increased labor consequent upon the process. 



ESSAY II.* 



To the Trustees of the Norfolk Agricultural Society : — 

Gentlemen, — In conformity with your request, I proceed 
to state " my experience, practice, and views" on the sub- 
ject of " soihng ; " by which I understand the keeping cattle 
in the barn, and feeding them with green food, during the 
summer months ; allowing them, daily, only a few hours' 
liberty of a yard, instead of feeding them in pastures. I do 
not, however, expect to communicate anything which may 
not easily be gathered from European writers. Knowing, also, 
the great proportion of land in the State thought to be exclu- 
sively applicable to pasturage, I do not anticipate that any 
statement on the topic can be generally useful. Yet to 
those farmers who have no land which may not easily be 
subjected to the plough, and to that increasing class who 
possess only ten, fifteen, or twenty acres of land, the system 
is very important, and a knowledge of my " experience and 
practice " may be useful. 

Between the years 1813 and 1821, I managed my farm, 
according to my own judgment, with satisfactory success. 
My attention was easily drawn to the subject of "soiling" 

* Published in the Transactions of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, for 1852, 
p. 107. 



38 



milch-cows in tlie summer season, instead of keeping them 
in pasture, from the following circumstances. My farm con- 
sisted of about one hundred and seventy acres of good loam, 
level, without stone ; almost every square foot of which might 
be easily made subject to the plough, with the exception 
of aliout twenty acres, which were salt marsh. Nearly half of 
it had been always applied to pasture ; and had upon it, by 
estimate, four or five miles of interior fence, which could not 
have cost, originally, less than sixteen hundred dollars ; and, 
being post and rail, annually cost about sixty dollars in 
repair. My farm being compact, the annoyance of having 
fifteen or twenty head of cattle driven night and morning to 
and from pasture ; the loss of time in turning the plough 
owing to the number of interior fences ; and the loss of sur- 
face capable of being submitted to the plough, owing to the 
many headlands, — all drew my attention to the subject of 
" soiling " and its effects. 

I found that European writers maintained that six distinct 
advantages were to be obtained by the practice of " soiling " 
over that of pasturing cattle in the summer season. 

1. It saved land. 

2. It saved fencing. 

3. It economized food. 

4. It kept the cattle in better condition and greater com- 
fort. 

5. It produced more milk. 

6. It increased, immensely, the quantity and quality of 
the manure. 

Satisfied, in my own mind, of the beneficial effects of the 
practice, I adopted it in the year 1814, and adhered to it 
until the year 1822 ; keeping from Jifteen to twenty head of 



30 



milch-cows with such satisfactory success, that iu the year 
1820, at the request of the Trustees of the " Massachusetts 
Society for promoting Agriculture," I published, in their 
journal, an essay "on soiling cattle."* In the year 1822, I 
gave up the direct management of my farm, and leased it, 
from considerations wholly independent of any dissatisfac- 
tion with this practice or its results. 

From that time being occupied in various public offices in 
Boston and its vicinity, I exercised no superintendence of 
my farm for about twenty-five years. Resuming its manage- 
ment in 1847, I immediately returned to the practice of 
" soiling ; " resorted to the Essays I had formerly pul^lishcd, 
to revive my knowledge on the subject ; and, from that time 
to the present,! have persevered in the practice, with such 
entire satisfaction, that no consideration would induce me 
to adopt any other. Since 1847, I have kept from thirtij to 
thirty-five head of milch-cows in this way ; so that, in my 
mind, my experience is conclusive on the subject. 

Every one of the advantages above stated, as being main- 
tained by European writers, I have realized. 

1. As to saving of land. One acre " soiled from " will 
produce as much as three acres pastured. This is enough ; 
although some European writers assert the benefit is equal 
to one to seven; this great difference arising from the mode 
in which the one acre is cultivated and enriched for succu- 
lent products. 

2. As to saving of fencing. It renders all interior fences 
useless. It enables the plougli to pass through any length 
of land without turning ; and saves all waste from headlands, 

* The preceding Essay. 

t I can now say to 1857, when I finally yielded my farm to my son. 



40 



which, on each side of fences, arc usually the receptacles of 
unsightly and noxious weeds. 

3. As to economy of food. Cattle will eat in the stall 
what they will reject in the field. They tread down and 
injure in the pasture, by dung or by stale, grass as good as, 
and almost in equal quantities with, that which they con- 
sume ; and by their feet, injure its present product and 
future productive power. 

4. As to the better condition and greater comfort of the 
cattle. In the stall, they are supplied every day, five or six 
times, with food given regularly in sufficient quantity ; and, 
previous preparation having been made, they can never fail, 
let the season be what it will, of always having the best food, 
and enough. When kept in the pasture, they are left to 
their own care, subject to various accidents ; to the ill 
effects produced by worrying one another ; to the constantly 
varying state of the pasture, which is always /Effected by 
drought and by the proportion of the numljer pastured ; 
and to the productive power of the field, which is often 
overstocked. In stall-feeding, care ha\dng been taken to 
have sufficient succulent food prepared, they are, in as great 
a degree as is possible, kept independent of the variations of 
season and from other annoyances. Their greater comfort, 
in this mode of keeping, is one of the essential causes of their 
better condition. During the heat of the day, they are kej)t 
under cover in the shade, secured from flies, from being- 
worried by dogs or one another, from eating any noxious 
vegetables, and from bad water. 

A popular olyection to this mode of keeping milch-cows 
is, that want of exercise must affect injuriously the health of 
the animal. To this, European writers, some of whom have 



41 



kept in this way largo herds, reply, that they " never had 
one sick, or one die, or one miscarry," in consequence of this 
mode of keeping. After more than ten years' pursuance 
of the same practice, my experience justifies me in uniting 
my testimony to theirs on this point. 

Another commonplace objection to this practice, in respect 
of milch-cows, is, that their " milk cannot be so good, nor in 
so great quantities, for want of exercise." Nothing can have 
loss foundation in fact. Cows in the pasture, unless under 
some temporary excitement, use very little, comparatively 
no, exercise. They usually walk a short time, slowly ; collect 
their food, and lie down to ruminate. The difference between 
this habit of theirs, and the exercise obtained by walking 
aljout an hour or two hours in the day in a yard, and being 
employed in rubbing themselves against walls or posts, is 
little, if any, loss than thoy got in the pasture. This exer- 
cise (a daily, thorough currying l)cing added in their stalls) 
is quite as efficient to produce a healthful action of the system 
as any exercise, as it is called, in the pasture. 

5. As to the quantity of milk produced l)y this mode of 
keeping, my own experience is, in my opinion, decisive in its 
favor. In early summer, and when pastures are fresh in 
grass, milk will be, for a short period, produced in somoAvhat 
greater quantities by keeping in pasture than by " soiling." 
But this advantage is of very short duration. As soon as 
pastures grow short, and the annoyance of heat and flies 
commences, all the advantao-e is transferred to stall-foedinir. 
By comparison of the result of my milk produced with that 
of my neighbors', taking both parts of the summer season 
together, I am entirely satisfied that the product, by well- 
conducted " soiling," is greatly in favor of this process. 

6 



42 



6. As to the great increase in the quantity and quality of 
the manure, there can be possibly no question on the sul)ject. 
Proper receptacles for this article being provided, free from 
rain and the sun, into which the stale from the cattle may 
be also received, the quantity and increased value of the 
manure thus kept is, according to my experience, a full 
pqiiivalent for all the labor and expense of raising-^ cutting- 
and bringing' in t/ic food, feeding, currying, and other care of 
the cattle. No farmer need be told of the importance and 
absolute necessity of manure for successful farming ; and, to 
those who have not the means of purchasing that article, the 
mode of " soiling " is, of all others, the most certainly pro- 
ductive of it, both in quantity and quality. 

As to " my practice " in soiling, it relates, 1st. To the 
quantity of land to be cultivated for the purpose of prepar- 
ing succulent food ; 2d. To the particular articles to be thus 
cultivated ; and, 3d. To the times they are to be sown, so as 
to effect a regular succession of such food, 

1. As to the quantity of land to be cultivated. According 
to my experience, one square rod of land, of rich loam in 
high tilth in grass, oats, barley, or Indian corn, is enough for 
the support of a cow a day, if cut and delivered to her in the 
barn. As, however, there is a great difference in the state 
of land and in its productive power, and as it is important 
there should be no failure in succulent food, my practice has 
been to cultivate one and a half square rods of land per day 
for each head of cattle I intend to " soil ; " and, on this basis, 
I make my calculations in the spring of the year. For the 
quantity to be sown at every succeeding period, when to 
secure a regular succession of such food a new sowing is 
required. To make this calculation sufficiently exact, the 



43 



length of time it will take the article sown to come to maturity 
so as to be fit to cut, and the length of time it will afterwards 
continue succulent, are to be considered. The time it comes 
to such a state of maturity is, of course, the time at which 
it may be relied upon for " soiling." A like reliance may 
be placed on the time it will continue succulent. The gen- 
eral knowledge of practical farmers and experience will easily 
give information on both points. 

If any article sown in the spring will come to maturity on 
the 1st of July, and will continue succulent ten days, fifteen 
square rods of succulent food will be wanted for each cow 
" soiled." One cow will, therefore, consume fifteen square 
rods during that period ; and ten cows will require one hun- 
dred and sixty rods, or about an acre of such food, for tlicir 
support. On this ]jasis of calculation, I have always found 
the number of square rods to be sowed, for such a period of 
succulency of the plant, is sufficient for about such a period 
of feeding; viz. ten days. On this calculation, I have safely 
" soiled " from thirty to thirty-five head of cattle; adding one 
acre of preparation for every ten head. 

Should any one, however, adopt this practice for the first 
time, I should advise the preparing two square rods for 
each cow, to guard against every contingency to which a 
first attempt may be liable ; for nothing will be lost, if the 
food should be proved more than was required. The sur- 
plus becomes a resource for the winter-keeping, after it is 
too rank for " soiling." 

2. As to the particular articles to be thus cultivated. I 
have tried many besides those above mentioned ; such as mil- 
let, lucern, cabbages, pease ; the tops of carrots, beets, or tur- 
nips. Each may be usefully applied in its proper season, 



44 



particularly the three last. And whoever keeps milch-cows 
will find roots an important auxiliary for milk in the winter 
season ; and, of course, will find their tops a like important 
aid to " soiling " in the latter months of autumn. But I 
think it best to enumerate only the fewest, the simplest, and 
the best known to all farmers, of the articles, which, from ex- 
perience, I have found the surest and the best to be relied 
upon for a successful conduct of the system. These are those 
already enumerated, — oats, barley, and Indian corn, — 
sown broadcast or in drills, for fodder. 

3. The time in which the above articles are to be sown. 

The usual period in this country for turning out cows to 
pasture is from the 20th of May to the 1st of June. ^Ante- 
cedent to this period, no succulent food can be obtained for 
" soiling." Preparation, however, may be made, the autumn 
IH'evious, by sowing winter rye, according to the proportion 
required for " soiling," from the lOtli or 15th of the month 
of May to the 1st of June. This could be done with advan- 
tage : but I have never practised it more than once ; because, 
although I have always had rye fit for cutting at this time, 
yet it is too valuable, as grain and straw, for me so to use it, 
— regarding as I do winter rye, at the usual prices of grain 
and straw in this vicinity, to bo the most profitable of any 
grain product. 

The reliance, in the " soiling " system, for succulent food, 
between the 20th of May and the 1st of July, is grass, cut 
and delivered in the stable; and, according to my experi- 
ence, one and a half square rods per day for each cow 
" soiled " is ample for this purpose. The grass thus cut was 
usually that which is the least likely to be preferable for 



45 



winter keep ; such as that growing by the side of my fiirni- 
roads or under trees, or that having the rankest fibre. 

The food sown and cultivated for soihng, in this chmate, 
must have exchisive reference to the summer and autumn 
months, commencing with the 1st of July. And the follow- 
ing is the order of sowing, according to my practice, justi- 
fied by experience ; the proportion of land sowed at each suc- 
cessive period being, as above stated, one and a half or two 
square rods per day for each coio soiled. To produce a 
sufficient quantity of succession of succulent food, sow — 

1. As early in April as the state of the laud will permit, — 
which is usually between the otli and the lOtli, — on prop- 
erly prepared land, oats, at the rate of four bushels to the 
acre. 

2. About the 20th of the same month, sow cither oats or 
barley, at the same rate per acre, in like quantity and pro- 
portions. 

3. Early in May, sow, in like manner, either of the above 
grains. 

4. Between the lOtli and loth of May, sow Indian corn 
(the flat. Southern, being the best) in drills, three bushels 
to the acre, in like quantity and proportions. 

5. About the 25 th of May, sow corn in like quantity and 
proportions. 

6. About the 5tli of June, repeat the sowing of corn. 

7. After the last-mentioned sowing, barley should be sown 
in the above-mentioned quantity and proportions, in succes- 
sion, on the 15th and 25th of June, and on the 1st of or 
early in July ; barley being the best qualified to resist the 
early frosts. 

The results of the above sowing, in succulent food, may be 



46 



expected to be as follows, seasons of extraordinary drought 
excepted : — 

The oats sowed early in April will be ready to cut for 
" soiUng" between the 1st and 5th of July, and will usually 
remain succulent until the 12tli or 15tli of this month. 

Those sowed al)out the 20th of April will be ready to cut 
between the loth and 20th of July, and will last nearly or 
quite till the 1st of August. 

Those sowed early in May will be ready to succeed the 
preceding, and last till al)out the 10th of this month. 

The corn sown on the 10th and 25tli of May and early in 
June will supjjly, in succession, succulent food, of the best 
quality, until early in Septcniljer. 

The barley sown in July will continue a sufficient supply 
until early in November ; at which time, and often before, 
the tops of roots, carrots, beets, or turnips are a never-failing 
resource. 

In the above enumeration of articles to effect a succession 
of succulent food for " soiling," I have carefully confined my- 
self to those which were the fewest and the most commonly 
known. I have also stated their succession in point of sow- 
ing and use, that there may be no disappointment if no other 
articles can be brought in aid for the purpose : whereas, 
in the latter end of July and in August, second-crop grass 
may be generally relied upon ; and, in September and October, 
the tops of roots, as above mentioned, and of Indian corn, are 
also a reliable rcsoiirce. 

I have also stated a succession of sowings, which my expe- 
rience has shown to be full and sufficient, and which, if the 
quantity sowed should be equal to tvm square rods for each 
cow " soiled," per day, will certainly ha more than sufficient 



47 



for suiunicr " soiling." But, as l)efore stated, if there slioiild 
be excess, nothing is lost, as it becomes a resource for winter 
food for cattle. 

I cannot close this communication without remarking 
upon the importance of this system, and of its being known 
and understood. Nothing seems less realized than the pro- 
ductive power of the soil, when it is good, aral)le, and well 
cultivated. A man hardly dares to call himself in our 
country, a farmer, unless he have thirty, forty, or fifty acres. 
If he have only ten, fifteen, or twenty, he aspires only to 
the character of a gardener ; Ijut as to keeping any number 
of cattle, beyond what is wanted for his own family use, he 
generally regards it wholly out of the question. Xow, there 
is in our country no class of men whom it is more desirable 
to encourage and instruct in the actual productive power of 
the quantity of land they possess, than these ten, fifteen, or 
twenty acre men. As this class multiplies (as it must), it 
will become a most important element in preserving and 
perpetuating conservative principles in our institutions. 
The consciousness of an identity of interest between the 
small and the great landholder, is, in a republic, one of 
the strongest bonds of its continuance and happiness. A 
practical knowledge of the productive power of the soil, 
and of the mode of making its yield the most, will not only 
create in them content, but will prevent them from running 
into debt for more land, — a practice, of all others, the most 
embarrassing and ruinous to that class of farmers. That 
this class may ol)tain distinct and practical knowledge of 
the mode of operating on a small scale, on this system, I 
state that I have known tivo head of milch-cows kept in full 
milk and high condition, through the whole summer season, 



48 



o:i one aero of laud, and some food from it left for winter 
use. To o)>taiii the requisite succession of green food, one 
quarter of an acre was sown, of articles herein already 
stated, early in April ; another quarter about fifteen days 
after the first ; and so the remaining tivo quarters in similar 
succession.* 

The first sown will be in a state to be used in " soiling " 
about the 1st of July; until which time, grass cut and 
lu'ought to the stal)le is the reliance. From the 1st to the 
loth of July, the food obtained from the first quarter of an 
acre will be usually a full supply. As soon as this quarter 
of an acre is fed off, it is to be well manured, — of which 
the cattle will have afforded an abundance, — jdoughed, or 
spaded, and the articles above stated sowed, and rolled in. 
The same process is to be pursued in respect of every suc- 
ceeding quarter of an acre, as soon as it is fed off, as long 
as the season will permit an expectation of a crop from such 
sowing. 

Of course, a farmer upon such a small scale will have 
roots of some kinds — carrots, beets, turnips, or cabbages — 

* In coiTohoi-ation of these views, as an evidence of the usefulness of this prac- 
tice on a small scale, I am authorized to state, that, ten years ago, the owner of ten 
acres of land in this vicinity, a])i)licable to the cultivation of vegetables, corn, 
summer grass, and winter hay, for stock, complained that he could keep only one 
roir, and have hay enough remain for her winter food and for a horse. He was 
recommended to follow the jjlan suggested in this Essay, on a single acre ; ploughing 
in succession, at the times there stated, so much of that acre as would support the 
cows he intended to keep, and following the other suggestions in ploughing and 
soiling ; and each portion, as it was fed off, manuring and again ploughing, sowing 
and again feeding off. He adopted the recommendation , and has recently assured 
me, that between the times of the first cutting of grass about his house and roadside, 
and the time of coming-in of vegetables for the food of stock, he has kept two coivs, 
often THREE, on this single acre ; and has no doubt that he could have kept four 
on that single acre, if he had wished, and had applied the system recommended, — 
pushed to the utmost of the productive power of that acre, — without affecting the 
requisite winter food of his stock; the cattle being all the time in healtli, and 
giving: the usual proportiou of summer's milk. 



49 

for winter supply, wliicli will come in aid of the food of 
the one acre, if wanted at the last of the season. I have 
stated that two cows may thus be kept on one acre during; 
the summer season. From my own experience, I do not 
hesitate to state that tliree cows may thus be kept in full 
milk and in high condition on a single acre. Whoever 
commences the system should begin on a small scale : expe- 
rience will show the way to success. Tlie great profit of 
the system is the abundance of manure which it insures, 
of the best quality, at the cheapest rate. The importance 
of manure to successful husbandry it is not for me to 
explain. "Whoever has no funds to purchase it, will find 
no mode so sure, so cheap, and so easy to obtain it, as the 
system of " soiling." 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,* 

Oct. 12, 1819. 



The Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for 
promoting Agriculture have requested tliat I should address 
you, this day, on topics connected with the objects of their 
Institution and with the occasion. In acceding to their ap- 
pointment, I have yielded to considerations of oflicial duty. 
For the manner in wliich the task shall be executed, I need 
not apologize to practical and intelligent men, such as I 
have now the honor to address. They know well how diffi- 
cult it is to cast over a trite subject the air of novelty, or 
to make one that is familiar interesting. 

My purpose, this day, is to seek what is true and what is 
useful in relation to the interests of our agriculture. 

In executing this purpose, I shall address myself chiefly 
to that great body of our countrymen who are emphati- 
cally called farmers : by whicli I mean the great body of 
Massachusetts yeomanry ; men who stand upon the soil, 

* Many susjjrestions contained in this Address, as originally published, are here 
omitted , forty years having greatly enlarged the knowledge, and improved the 
condition, of the farmers of Massachusetts. 



51 



and arc identified with it (for tlicrc rest their own hopes, 
and the hopes of their cliildren) ; men who have, for the 
most part, great farms and small pecuniary resources ; men 
wdio are esteemed more for their land than for their money, 
more for their good sense than for their land, and more for 
their virtue than for either ; men who are the chief strength, 
support, and column of our political society, and who stand 
to the other orders of the State as the shaft or the pillar ; 
in respect of whom, all other arts, trades, and professions 
are but ornamental work, — the cornice, the frieze, and the 
Corinthian capital. 

I am thus distinct in declaring my sentiment concerning 
the importance and value of this class of men, from no piir- 
pose of temporary excitement or of personal conciliation, 
but because I think it just and their due ; and because, 
being about to hint concerning errors and defects in our 
.as-riculture, I am anxious that such a course of remark 
should not be attributed to any want of honor or respect 
for the farming interest. On the contrary, it is only from 
a deep sense of the importance of an art that a strong 
desire for its improvement can proceed. Whatever tends 
to stimulate and direct the industry of our farmers ; Avhat- 
ever spreads prosperity over our fields ; whatever carries 
liappinesg to the home, and content to the bosoms, of our 
yeomanry, — tends, more than everything else, to lay the 
foundations of our republic deep and strong, and to give 
the assurance of immortality to our lil)erties. 

The errors and deficiencies of our practical agriculture 
may be referred, in a general survey, with sufficient accu- 
racy, to two sources, — the want of scope of view among our 
farmers, and the want of system in their plans. 



52 



Concerning another want, of which farmers are most 
sensible, and most generally complain, — the want of cash 
in their pockets, — I shall say nothing, because it is not a 
want peculiar to the farmer. It is a general want, and 
belongs to all other classes and professions. Besides, there 
is no encoviragement to speak of this AA'ant, because it is 
one that increases by its very supply. All of us must have 
observed, that it almost ever happens (with, however, a few 
splendid exceptions), that the more any man has of this 
article, the more he always wants. 

The errors and deficiencies to which I shall allude will 
not be sucli as require any extent of capital to rectify. All 
that will be requisite is a little more of that industry of 
Avhich our farmers liave already so much, or that industry 
a little differently directed. It is not by great and splendid 
particular improvements that the interests of agriculture 
are best subserved, but by a general and gradmd amelio- 
ration. Most is done for agriculture when every farmer 
is excited to small attentions and incidental improvements ; 
such as proceed, for instance, from the constant application 
of a few plain and common principles. Such arc, that, in 
farming, nothing should be lost, and nothing should be neg- 
lected ; that everything should be done in its proper time, 
everything put in its proper place, everything executed 
by its proper instrument. These attentions, when viewed in 
their individual effect, seem small ; but they are immense 
in the aggregate. When they become general, taken in con- 
nection with the dispositions which precede, and the conse- 
quences which inevitably follow, such a state of imi)rovement, 
they include, in fact, everything. 

Scope of view, in a general sense, has relation to the 



53 



wise adaptation of means to their final ends. When ap- 
pUed to a farmer, it implies tlic adaptation of all the huild- 
ings and parts of a farm to their appropriate pnrposes ; so 
that, whatever is fixed and permanent in its character, may 
he so arranged as hest to facilitate the lahor of the farm, 
and best to snbserve the comfort, convenience, and success 
of the proprietor. 

Our ideas upon this sul)ject may be best collected from 
inspection. If our fellow-farmers please, we will therefore, 
in imagination, adjourn for a few moments, and take our 
stand, first, at the door of the farm-house. I say, " at the 
door." Far be it from me to enter within it. Far be it 
from me to criticise the department of the other sex, or to 
suggest that anything peculiarly subject to their manage- 
ment can be either ameliorated or amended. Nor is it ne- 
cessary ; for I believe it is a fact almost universally true, that, 
where the good man of the family is extremely precise and 
regular and orderly in his arrangements without doors, he 
never fails to be seconded, and even surpassed, by the 
order, the regularity, and neatness of the good woman 
within. 

Let us cast our eyes, tlien, about us, from the door of 
the farm-house. What do we see ? Are the fences on the 
road in good condition ? Is the gate whole, and on its 
hinges ? Arc the domestic animals excluded from immediate 
connection with tlie dwelling-house, or at least from tlie 
front-yard ? Is there a green plot adjoining, well protected 
from pigs and poultry, so that the excellent housewife may 
advantageously spread and bleach the linen and yarn of the 
family ? Is the woodpile well located, so as not to inter- 
fere Avith the passenger ? or is it located with es|)ecial eye 



54 



to the benefit of the neighboring surgeon ? Is it covered, 
so that its work may be done in stormy weatlier ? Is the 
well convenient ? and is it sheltered, so that tlie females 
of the family may obtain water, without exposure, at all 
times and at all seasons ? Do the subsidiary arrangements 
indicate such contrivance and management as that nothing 
useful should be lost, and nothing useless offend ? To this 
end, are there drains, determining what is liquid in filth and 
offal to the barnyard or the pens ? Are there receptacles 
for what is solid, so that bones and broken utensils may 
occasionally be carried away and buried ? If all this be 
done, it is well ; and if, in addition to this, a general air of 
order and care be ol)scrvable, little more is to be desired: 
the first })roper object of a farmer's attention (his own and 
his family's comfort and accommodation) is attained. Every- 
thing about him indicates that self-respect which lies at the 
foundation of good husbandry Us well as of good morals. 

^\.s we ];)roceed to the farm, we will stop one moment at 
the barnyard. We shall say nothing concerning the ar- 
rangements of the barn. They must include comfort, con- 
venience, protection for his stock, his hay, and his fodder, 
or they are little or nothing. We go thither for the purpose 
oidy of looking at what the learned call the stercorary, but 
which farmers know by the name of the manure-heap. 
AVill our friends from the city pardon us if we detain them 
a moment at this point ? Here we stop, the rather because 
here, more than anywhere else, the farmers of Massachu- 
setts are careless and deficient ; because on this, more than 
on anything else, depends the wealth of the farmer ; and 
because this is the best criterion of his present, and the 
surest pledge of his future, success. What, then, is its state ? 



How is it located ? Sometimes wc see the barnyard on the 
top of a hill, with two or three fine rocks iii the centre ; so 
that whatever is carried or left there is sure of being chiefly 
exhaled by the sun, or washed away by the rain. Some- 
times it is to be seen in the hollow of some valley, into 
which all the hills and neighboring buildings precipitate 
their waters. Of consequence, all its contents are drowned 
or water-soaked ; or, what is w^orse, there having been no 
care about the bottom of the rcceptable, its wealth goes off 
in the under strata, to enrich, possil)ly, the antipodes. The 
Chinese, for aught we know, may be the better for it ; but 
it is lost forever to these upper regions. 

Now, all this is to the last degree wasteful, absurd, and 
impoverishing. Too much cannot be said to expose the loss 
and injury which the farmer thus sustains. Let the farmer 
want whatever else he pleases : but let no man call himself 
a farmer who suffers himself to want a receptacle for his 
manure, water-tight at the bottom, and covered at the top ; 
so that, below, nothing shall be lost by drainage ; and, 
above, nothing shall be carried away by evaporation. Let 
every farmer, wanting such a protection for his manure, 
be assured that he loses, by the sun and rain, tenfold as 
much as will pay all his taxes — State, town, and national 
— every year. Let not the size of his manure-heap be any 
objection. If it be great, he loses the more, and can afford 
the expense the better. If it be small, this is the best way 
to make it become greater. Besides, what is the expense ? 
AVhat is wanted? An excavation, two or three feet deep, 
well clayed, paved, and " dishing," as it is called, of an area 
according to the desired quantity of manure ; overhead, a 
roof made of rough boards and refuse lumber, if he pleases ; 



56 



the object being to shut out the action of the sun and 
cast off the rain, so that no more should come upon his 
manure-heap than the farmer chooses. This he regulates, 
))y spouts, at his discretion. 

Time will not permit us to stay long upon the farm : we 
will go out upon it only for the purpose of making a single 
observation, and tliat in relation to the fences. 

It is thought to be a great virtue in a farmer to build 
good fences. And so it is. None can be greater, so far as 
relates to external fences, — those which bound on the road 
or a neighl)or. They ought to be perfect, and sufficient 
against every intrusion. But, when the remark is applied 
to interior fences, it is often far otherwise. The making, 
and keeping in repair, unnecessary fences, is one of the great- 
est drawbacks from the profitable employment of the labor 
of our farmers. Every year, new fencing-stuff must be 
bought, or stone walls must be built, and stone walls re- 
paired. Much of that time and capital are expended about 
these objects which ought to be employed in collecting 
manures, in ploughing their land, or in some labor directly 
conducing to the prosperity of the immediate or ensuing 
crop. 

Tlie adopting of a single principle, in relation to the 
management of their farms, would save at once one half of 
all their interior fences. I allude to the making the dis- 
tinction between arable and pasture lands permanent ; and 
adopting it as a principle, that no beasts should be permit- 
ted to range upon the soil destined to the plough and the 
scythe. 

I know that this proposition will be received by many 
with surprise, and l)y some with a sneer. But consider of 



57 



it, farmers. Be assured tliat the practice of grazing your 
mowing-lands is the falsest of all that boars the name of 
economy. It is impossible, in a discourse so general as 
this necessarily is, to give all the grounds of this position. 
I look at the subject now only in relation to saving the 
expense of making fences and repairing them. Let any 
farmer, of middle age, take his pencil, and calculate what 
it has cost him and his ancestors, in the course of his and 
their lives, to make and maintain rail-fences or stone-walls 
upon their farms. I am mistaken if one half of the farmers 
do not find the expense far exceed their present conception ; 
and if the other half do not find, that, at a fair estimate of 
materials, labor, and interest, the cost of these fences or 
walls has been more than the whole farm would now sell for 
under the hammer. 

Now, more than half of all the stone-walls and rail-fences 
in Massachusetts are interior fences, dividnig lands belong- 
ing to the same proprietor. These interior fences are abso- 
lutely useless, except for the purjoose of enabling the pro- 
prietor to pasture his mowing-land. They are worse than 
useless on exclusively arable land. These walls are, in fact, 
harbors for all sort of vermin ; for field-mice and wood- 
chucks and skunks and squirrels. Then, on both sides, 
what a rare assemblage always of elderberries and barberry- 
bushes and nettles, and all sorts of injurious weeds ! Thus 
not only much land is lost, but worse than lost. There is 
done a positive injury. Besides, when the plough begins to 
run, what then ? Why, upon many farms, you cannot run 
a plough forty rods in a straight line, without coming, as 
farmers say, " plump " upon a stone-wall. Then what a 
" hawing and jeeing " ! And the good-natured fellow at 



58 



the front-yoke must always take time to crack his joke, or 
have " a cup of comfort " with the good-natured fellow at 
the plough-tail ; and all this at the direct and positive loss 
of the owner of the land or the employer. 

But our lands arc full of stone. What shall we do with 
them ? Certainly there is no absolute necessity of building 
them up in the shape of a stone-wall. If there be, then 
thicken or heighten your external walls. But this is done 
already. Well, then, have you never a pond-hole to fill up? 
Is there no useless hollow into which they may be thrown ? If 
nothing of this kind can be done with them, better pile them 
up pyramidically, and cover them with grape-vines, than go 
to the expense of building walls worse than useless. 

Let me not be understood to intend that good farming 
requires that farmers should level or remove the walls or 
fences which they or their ancestors' labor have already 
provided. The condition of every man's farm is, in this 
respect, a particidar fact, by which the calculations of his 
business should be made, and his conduct in relation to it 
governed. The only object of these remarks is to invito 
farmers, who are contemplating building new walls, or pur- 
chasing new materials for interior fences, to consider wheth- 
er their own and oxen's labor may not be better employed ; 
and whether grazing the land, intended to be fenced, be, in 
fact, a compensation for the great expenditure they are about 
to incur, — of the only capital they have, generally, at their 
command. 

Farmers should never one moment forget that their and 
their oxen's labor constitute their capital, and that they 
should be wasted in no object which does not add something 
to the present or future year's actual product. It is not too 



59 



much to say, that tlic capital expended in rail-fences and 
stone-walls which arc useless, in Massachusetts, would, if it 
had been applied in collecting manures and in deepening tlie 
soil, have added, at this day, a third part to the income of 
every farmer in the country. 

Let every farmer divide his pasture-ground as he pleases ; 
let the fence between his arable and pasture land be as 
strong as an external fence : but, if possible, let all his 
arable ground, though a hundred acres, be in one lot. 
Then his plough runs clear in a long furrow. His tillage is 
divided only by the different species of grain and vegetables 
he cultivates. There are no fences ; of consequence, no 
inconvenient and worthless headlands ; no apology for thistles 
and nettles. The scene is beautiful to the eye. The whole 
has the appearance of a garden, and begets in the farmer a 
sort of horticultural neatness. 

Before passing to treat, very briefly, the remaining topic of 
discourse, may I l)e permitted to say a word on the style of 
our buildings ? It will be worth the time, if it make only 
one man, about to build, consider. 

The fault is not peculiar to farmers, — it is true of men in 
almost every rank and condition of life, — that, when about 
to build, they often exceed their means, and almost always go 
l)eyond the real wants of their families, and the actual requi- 
sition of their other relations in life. But let not the sound, 
practical good sense of tlie country be misled by the false 
taste and false pride of the city, where wealth, fermenting 
by reason of the greatness of its heaps, is ever fuming away 
in palaces, the objects of present transitory pride, and too 
often of future, long-continued repentance. 

When will man learn that his true dignity, as well as 



GO 



happiness, consists in proportion, — in the proportion of 
means to ends, of purposes to means, of condnct to the 
condition in hfe in which a kind Providence has placed liim, 
and to the relations of things concerning which it has des- 
tined he should act ? 

The |)ride of the farmer should be out in his fields. In 
their beauty, in their order, in their product, he should place 
the gratification of his iiseful and honorable ambition. The 
farmer's great want is capital. Never should his dwelling be 
splendid at the expense of his farm. In this, all that is sur- 
])lus in his capital should concentrate. Whatever is use- 
lessly exj^ended elsewhere is so much lost to his family and 
his fortune. 

I shall now recur briefly to another class of deficiencies, — 
the want of system in the jdans of our farmers. 

System relates to time, to courses, and to modes of hus- 
l)andry. A full elucidation of each topic would embrace the 
whole circle of farming dispositions and duties. The tune 
Avill not permit anything more than a recurrence to one or 
two leading ideas. Want of system in agriculture leads to 
loss of time and increase of expense. System has chief ref- 
erence to succession of crops, to sufficiency of hands, and to 
selections of instruments. As to the succession of crops, 
called rotation, almost the only plan of our farmers is to get 
their lands into grass as soon as possible, and then to keep 
them in grass as long as possible. The consequence of this 
])ractice — for it deserves not the name of a system — is to 
lead to the disuse, or rather to the least possible use, of that 
great source of agricultural riches, — the plough. xVccord- 
ingly, it has almost become a maxim, that the plougli is the 
most expensive of all instruments ; and of consequence, as 



61 



much as possililc, to be avoided. And so it is, and so it must 
be, as the business of our farms is managed. By keeping- 
lands down to grass as long as possible, — that is, as long 
as the hay product will pay for mowing and making, — 
the consequence is, that our lands, when we are obliged re- 
luctantly to put the plough into them, are bound and matted 
and cross-barred with an impervious, inextricable, infrangil)le 
web of root and sod. Hence results a grand process, called 
" a breaking-iip," with four, five, or six head of cattle, as 
the case may be, with three men, one at the ox-head, a 
second at the plough-beam, and the third at the ])lougli- 
handle. Is there any wonder that such a ])lougliing api)ara- 
tus is an object of aversion ? 

It is impossible for any man to witness " a breaking-u|) " 
of this kind, without being forcibly reminded of the reflec- 
tion made by a shrewd commentator on that passage in 
the Book of Kings where it is said that Elisha was found 
" ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen." — "Well," said the 
commentator, " it is no wonder that Elisha was glad enough 
to quit ploughing for prophesying, if he could not break up 
with less than twelve yoke of oxen." 

In fact, the plough is the natural instrument of tlie farm- 
er's prosperity ; and the system of every farmer ought to 
have reference to facilitating and increasing its use. Let a 
rotation bo adopted, embracing two or three years' succes- 
sive ploughings, for deepening and pulverizing crops, to be 
succeeded by grain and grass for two or three years more. 
The [tlough, on its i-eturn every five, six, or seven years, 
finds, in such case, the land mellow, soft, nnimplicated by 
root, and tender in sod. The consequence is, that " a break- 
ing-up " is then done with one yoke of oxen and one man. 



G2 



The expense is comparatively small. There is nothing to 
deter, and everything to invite, the farmer to increase the 
use of that most invaluable of all instruments. 

Systematic agriculture also requires sufficiency of hands. 
Whatever scale of farming any man undertakes to fill, hands 
enovigh to do it well are essential. Although this is a plain 
dictate of common sense, yet the want of being guided by 
it in practice is one great cause of ill success in our agri- 
culture. Because we hear every day that " labor runs away 
with all profits in farming," almost every farmer lays it down 
as a maxim, to do with as little labor as possible. Now, this 
maxim almost always residts in practice in doing with less 
than he ought. The effect is almost everywhere seen, in loss 
of time, loss of season, loss of the employ of working cattle, 
and loss or deterioration of crop. Now, in truth, labor, as 
such, never yet diminished any man's profit : on the con- 
trary, it is the root and spring of all profit. Lalior unwisely 
directed and unskilfully managed is, indeed, a great con- 
sumer of the farmer's prosperity ; Ijut labor wisely directed 
and skilfully managed can, from the nature of things, result 
in nothing else than profit. "What is skilful management, 
and what is wise direction of labor, opens a field almost 
boundless, and not to be attempted on the present occa- 
sion. A single remark must suffice. The great secret of 
European success in agriculture is stated to be " much 
labor on comparatively little land." Now, the whole teiioy 
of Massachusetts husbandry, from the first settlement of the 
countrv, has been little labor on much land. Is it wonder- 
ful, then, that success should be little or nothing, when con- 
duct is in direct violation of the principle on which success 
depends ? 



63 



With respect to utensils, too, system requires that they 
should be the most perfect of their kind, and always tlie 
most perfect in their state. 

* Great profits in agriculture can result only from great 
improvements of the soil : great improvements of the soil 
can result only from unremitting industry. The chief study 
of every farmer should be, icliat is useful and ivhat is use- 
less expense in relation to his art. The discrimination 
between these is the master key of the former's prosperity. 
The first should be incurred with a freedom little short of 
profusion : the last should be shunned as the sailor shuns 
the rocks where are seen the wreck of the hopes of preceding 
mariners. 

In this art, and almost in this art alone, " it is the liberal 
hand which makcth rich." 

Liberality in providing utensils is the saving both of time 
and of labor. The more perfect his instruments, the more 
profitable are they. 

So also is it with his working cattle and his stock : the 
most perfect in their kinds are ever the most profitable. 

Liberality in good barns and warm shelters is the source 
of health, strength, and comfort to animals ; causes them to 
thrive on less food, and secures from damage all sorts of 
crops. 

Liberality, also, in the provision of food for domestic ani- 
mals, is the source of flesh, muscle, and manure. 

* I am indebted, partly, for the general turn of thought, and for some of the 
expressions, in a few of the ensuing paragraphs, to a work entitled " Arator," by 
John Taylor, Esq , of Caroline County, Va., — a work principally destined to ame- 
liorate the airriculture of the State of which the author was a citizen; but written, 
so far as it relates to its agricultural tendency, in an admirable spirit, and abound- 
ing in reflections at once practical and philosophical. 



C4 



Liberality to the earth, in seed, culture, and compost, is the 
source of its bounty. 

Thus it is, in agriculture as in every part of creation, a wise 
and paternal Providence has inseparably connected our duty 
and our happiness. 

In cultivating the earth, the condition of man's success is 
his industry upon it. 

In raising domestic animals, the condition of his success is 
kindness and benevolence to them. 

In making the productiveness of the earth depend upon the 
diligence and wisdom of the cultivator, the Universal Father 
has inseparably connected the fertility of his creation with the 
strongest intellectual inducements and the highest moral 
motives. 

In putting the animal world under his dominion, he has 
placed the happiness of which their nature is susceptible 
under the strong guaranty of man's interest. 

Instead, therefore, of repining at his lot, let the cultivator 
of the ground consider his as among the highest and happiest 
of all human destinies : since, in relation to the earth, he is the 
instrument of Heaven's l)0unty ; and, in relation to the infe- 
rior orders of creation, the almoner of Providence. 



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